soupy says

In early January, the National Aids Foundation (NAF) hosted a two day training for 25 of the sex workers in Khovd. They taught about STIs, AIDs, how to put on a condom with your mouth and other related health topics.

A week later, Luslaa, my counterpart, set up a follow-up meeting with the women to discuss the training and ideas about further trainings. Six came and we agreed to have a short information session about reproductive health and alcohol the next week. They said they would try and bring friends as well. The training happened last Thursday. Again, six women came. Some had come the week before and others were new faces. We asked them what other topics they wanted to learn about. They mentioned things like birth control and stress management. I asked if they wanted information on sex trafficking. They said yes and the topic seemed to strike a cord with one woman. She practicly jumped up and down in her seat when it was mentioned.

The women that show up are great. They are really interested in learning, and there is a wide range of personalities. Some are really outspoken, and some are really shy. They are also really young. Most are between 18-25, but there is one that is 16. Yeah, 16. Luslaa told me that some girls stop going to secondary school and get involved in sex work when their families need money. University students are pretty poor in Mongolia, and it is “common” for women students to sell sex for money for food.

It seems that many women go in and out of sex work depending on their finanical situation. In Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan, massage palors and brothels are starting to pop up, but in the countryside (Khovd and other aimag centers), it is much more informal, but there are definately certain hotels and bars in town where sex workers and clients meet.

My head is simply bursting of ideas of health lessons, self-esteem and skill building activities that are possible with this group. They are a couple that are clearly “leaders” of the group, and I would love to train them as trainers for peer education work. In early March, Luslaa and I head to UB for Peace Corps’ Project Design and Management (PDM) seminar in. The purpose of the seminar is develop a community project idea into reality. Both Luslaa and I are quite excited for PDM, and I can’t wait to see how this group develops.

Ok, it’s not a novel. It’s a New York Times column. I hate the title, but the ending made me feel like, well, what I would imagine a romance novel makes some women feel.
J. Courtney Sullivan, Changing my Feminist Mind, One Man at a Time

He gets it, yet he’s bold enough to stand up to me when he thinks I’ve gone too far. Confronted by my beliefs, Colin offers neither the typical blow-off of other men nor the mea culpa that I thought I was looking for. Instead, he listens and discusses sexism with me at length, agreeing most of the time, but not always. And when he disagrees, he says so, challenging me to think about my long-held beliefs in new ways, and occasionally even changing my mind.
—
And now I have fallen for a man who understands and respects my feminist beliefs, and who also takes me to dinner, holds the door, calls me Babydoll in a slow Southern drawl.

Embracing those contradictions has led me to discover a world between the harsh reality of sexism and the airy wishes of my love-drenched fantasies.

It’s true what my Smith professor said about progress depending upon one individual changing another for the better. What she didn’t say was that, inevitably, the change goes both ways.

And yes, I have something like 11 days left in this country. Damn, 11 days. And I am in a full stage of denial. Here’s a little clue on how I’ve been avoiding thinking about this fact.

This is frustrating.

I watched Thursday’s piece, and there was no mention of the father’s role. none. Even the mom that worked, she talked about needing to take time off from work take care of the kids when sick. Did the husband ever do this? Was there even a discussion on which spouse should stay at home? What about the dads that do stay at home? Are they letting their education and training go to waste? Hopefully I can write a proper response at some point. Well, a proper response would include academic references to many sociology articles, and that’s probably not going to happen.

Hell, when I read this interview, I wanted to pull my hair out because everything O’Beirne said, I could counter with an academic study. Actually, I could have done it just using the articles in a book from my Sociology of Sex Roles class.

Oh, the best quote from the piece

Not all women have the choice. Those without the means must stay in the work force while raising their children.

“It’s still a matter of choice,” Fuhrman said. “You choose between having cable TV in your house or the latest iPod.”

How detached from the reality of most Americans is this woman? Fuck, most citizens of the world? Of course this whole “debate” focuses families that can afford to have someone stay at home.

And GMA, what are your motives really? I have no hard data on your demographics, but who is home and can sit and watch your program? Was the whole point of this to have some woman tell your audience, “You are stupid because you stay at home?”

Oh, and I’m not saying that there isn’t tension between Stay-at-Home and Workforce Moms. I have the study to back that up too. (From that same book) :p

Wow. What a messy post.

The wisdom of Rush Limbaugh:

I’m not talking — I know how many of you want to be sexually harassed — that’s not what I’m asking. But if somebody wants to hire you to look good for whoever is the first to walk in the door every day, why not, if that’s your asset?
Now, I have a real-world question for those of you women in the audience. Just something I’d like to know. How many of you in the secrecy and privacy of your own dreams and hopes would love to be hired as eye candy?

See context here.

Fun addition! I bring you a quote from my cousin.

“I get all my news from Rush Limbaugh.”

The scariest part? He’s not the only one.